


Careful What You Wish For

by jin_fenghuang



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: AU, Adventure, Dude Bro, F/M, Humor, Romance, Wishes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2011-11-26
Updated: 2012-09-04
Packaged: 2017-10-26 13:21:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/283665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jin_fenghuang/pseuds/jin_fenghuang
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set before 'The Beach'. A star falls and Mai makes a wish, a wish that changes everything.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A big thank you to Cadesama and Dracomaleficium for the beta!

The moon had not yet set. Mai stood in the shadows at the gate of her family's estate in the caldera as she watched Zuko leave the palace and pull his hood deeper over his face. For a second she wondered why he was going all incognito to visit her, but when he turned and walked away from her gate she pursed her lips in annoyance. _What, by Agni, was he up to?_ She gestured at the servants not to bother her as she quietly followed him from a distance through the caldera and up to the ancient tower that held the royal prison.

Then it struck her; he was going to visit his traitor uncle. Mai pressed her palm to her face, feeling a headache coming. _What was it with Zuko? He was no longer banished. Wasn't that what he'd wanted? Shouldn't he be happy now, or something?_

What _was_ it that he wanted, though? More than once on their journey back from Ba Sing Se, had she found him staring out at the sea for hours on end, brooding over Agni knows what. And now he was sneaking around at night, risking his father's anger, when he had just come back to h… home. This was not how she had imagined it, not how it was supposed to be. It was all so damn stupid.

No matter that she had told him to - by Agni, even Azula had told him to stop worrying - their words didn't seem to get through to him. It was so frustrating. Why couldn't he be a little more like she remembered him? He used to be happy, Mai thought as she turned and walked back to the estate, back when they'd played in the palace gardens as children. She counted off the Fire Festivals she'd spend away from the caldera on her fingers and stopped. Four years. Had it really been that long? Now that she thought about it, she had not seen him at all since before he got … But that was all good now, wasn't it? They'd had an official announcement and all. Mai shrugged. He really was being an idiot for no reason.

But then why wasn't he happy? The thought kept on coming back to her, crept up on her at the oddest of moments. The next afternoon, when she was practicing with her knives in the palace gardens, waiting for Zuko to finish yet another meeting, the thought of how her mother and Princess Ursa used to play pai-sho in the shade by the fire-roses caught her unaware. Her shuriken missed the mark, something that had not happened in years, and she had to get a servant to fetch it from the bushes.

Later that night Mai woke alone in her room, drenched in cold sweat from an uneasy dream of burning apples and happy memories long gone sour. The moon was shining in through the shutters when Mai looked around and she realized that it had to be several hours past midnight, since even the servants had gone to bed. Not wanting to go back to sleep just yet, Mai wrapped herself in a shawl and stepped onto her balcony, trying to shake the feeling of unease the dream had left her with.

Even in the middle of the night the royal palace was not completely dark. Mai searched for the familiar window among the lights, wondering what he was doing up at this hour. She'd briefly talked to him after his meeting with the Fire Lord and he'd seemed even more on edge, brushing off her offer of comfort, striding past with that angry gait she'd come to loathe, claiming he had to talk to Azula.

 _I wish you'd let me in, Zuko._

There was a sudden chill in the air and Mai pulled her shawl tighter around herself. A shooting-star brightened the night sky, snuffing out the stars with its glow. A sudden gust rustled the leaves in the trees below her window, filling the air with an almost chitinous rustling, like so many bugs crawling over the forest floor.

Make a wish.

Mai spun around and a hail of knives buried themselves in the plaster where the voice had come from.

"Zuko?"

Crap. She better not need a new fiancé. He usually knew better than to sneak up on her, but he'd been acting particularly stupid the last couple of days.

Her voice echoed in the darkness, afterimages of the shooting-star's path flickering before her eyes. Slowly her night vision returned and she searched the darkness around her for the intruder. She was alone.

Mai sighed; maybe she should go back to bed. Her eyes returned once more to Zuko's window, but the palace lay dark and forbidding, the light in Zuko's window gone, leaving her oddly sad at the loss. Mai's eyes lingered a moment longer on where his light had been. _Good night, Zuko._

 _Make a wish._ There was that voice again, that Mai was now certain was a figment of her imagination. She took one last look at the horizon, the fallen star's glow outlining the islands nearby.

"Well, maybe I should," Mai muttered to herself. She closed her eyes and wished.

 

ooo

 

Someone who was definitely getting dismissed was opening the shutters. Mai groaned and turned away from the offending sunlight.

The same someone coughed politely and Mai opened sleep heavy eyes, frowning at the servant kowtowing in front of her bed.

"Lady Mai, your honorable mother, Lady Zhang, wishes me to inform you that she will be visiting Princess Ursa without you, if you are not presentable and ready to leave on time."

"What?" None of this made sense and if she just could go back to sleep for a few more minutes she'd surely not have to kill anyone. Mai's eyes drifted shut.

"Lady Mai, your honorable mother, Lady Zhang, wishes me to inform you that –"

"Yes," Mai grumbled, "I know!"

The servant fell silent and Mai sank back onto her pillow. Who'd want to go visit one of mother's stupid friends anyway, even if it was Princess Ursa.

Mai sat up with lightening speed, her hands reaching for the single knife-holster she wore to bed. Princess Ursa? That wasn't possible! Zuko's mother was dead, or missing, or something, right? Had she come back? And there was something strange about her room, too. Mai took in the unfamiliar surroundings, staring flabbergasted at the black sand beach outside her window. How by Agni had she ended up on Ember Island?

"Tell my mother I'll be there." Mai addressed the servant, who was still kowtowing, eyes timidly on the floor.

"Yes, Lady Mai."

There was a breakfast tray set out on the table by the window and Mai held out her hand for her robe, gesturing toward another servant to draw her a bath.

She settled on the cushion by the low table, drawing her legs up under her. This was all more than a bit surreal. Maybe it was a dream? But the tea in her cup was hot and the knife she pricked her finger with drew blood. How could this be? She clearly remembered going to bed in their house at the palace caldera. Mai shook her head to clear it. What by Agni was going on?

 

ooo

 

Lady Zhang gave her daughter a disapproving once over and pinched the bridge of her nose.  
"Would it be too much to ask to wear something remotely cheerful every now and then?"

"You could always adopt Ty Lee, mother." Mai inspected her fingernails in a practiced, bored gesture. Some things apparently never changed.

Mai leaned her head against the side of their palanquin, watching the countryside pass by. Lush flowering bushes and palm trees gave way to volcanic rock and sheer cliffs as they turned onto the winding road that led, following the rugged coastline, to the royal estates. It wasn't a long ride; her own family was, after all, royalty too, if minor and further down the noble food chain than her mother liked.

As they pulled up to the house, Zuko and Azula came into sight. They were outside, practicing some kind of firebending routine, juggling fireballs back and forth between them. It almost looked like a game, but Mai scoffed at the thought. Azula and Zuko playing a game that did not involve trying to kill each other? Ridiculous.

The servants helped her mother out of the palanquin, and Mai took a deep breath, hating the anxious feeling that was creeping up on her, crawling over her skin like ants.

Azula, face scrunched up in concentration, seemed to have trouble keeping her three fireballs alive and moving, dropping one when the palanquin came to a halt in front of the house.

"You need to breathe with the pulse of the fire." Zuko, his back still to them, gently corrected his sister, and Mai, waiting for the attack that didn't come, wondered if he had a deathwish.

"Keep it up, you two." Zuko's father came out of the house to greet her mother and walking past Zuko, patted his son approvingly on the back. "I'm sure she'll get it eventually."

And before Mai could truly take in the strangeness of everyone's behavior Zuko turned and smiled at his father and Mai froze, staring wide-eyed at Zuko's face.

"No scar," she whispered. He had no scar. Mai steadied herself on the palanquin, suddenly feeling faint. Could it be true? Had she really wished upon a star and …?

 

ooo

 

Lunch was a strange affair, if not entertaining. Prince Ozai was doting on his wife in a way that made Mai's mother straighten her back and pick at her food, disapproving and seething inside but unable to so much as frown in their direction. It almost made Mai smile.

But then there was Zuko. She was seated next to him, as her station as his fiancée dictated. Mai picked up a smoked abalone with her chopsticks, the flavor turning to ash in her mouth. Quick to smile and more relaxed than she had seen him in weeks, Zuko laughed good-naturedly at Azula's jokes and even managed to charm a smile out of her mother. His behavior toward her, on the other hand, was nothing but proper and courteous. It made Mai want to scream in frustration. She kept sneaking glances at Zuko's now too perfect profile wondering what to make of him, of all of it to be honest, looking for evidence that this new, happy Zuko still liked her. They said that nothing good ever came of spirit gifts. Mai stabbed at the artfully arranged food on her plate. She'd never been a graceful loser.

When the adults excused themselves after the meal, retiring to the porch for drinks and gossip, Zuko bowed to her and offered to show her the gardens. Recognizing his thinly veiled excuse for what it was, a ploy to get away from their mothers' endless chatter, she gratefully agreed. When he led her down the winding path to the beach, away from the house, Zuko's hand found hers, and Mai's heart started to beat faster. She had to keep her eyes on the ground to hide her flushed cheeks. The path took a sharp turn behind a lush growth of jasmine where Zuko grabbed her around the waist, pulling her down onto the well manicured lawn. The flowering bush shielded them from view as Mai landed partially on top of grinning Zuko.

Mai would have protested this kind of treatment under normal circumstances, purely out of principle, but his lips were on hers and by Agni, she wanted this, wanted affirmation that nothing had changed between them, that his happiness still included her. Mai fisted her hands in his robes, pulling him closer, kissing him back with passion fueled by pent up anxiety, determined not to let go any time soon, not caring that anyone could come after them at any minute. This was what she'd wished for ever since she'd been old enough to understand her own feelings.

Her thigh slid between his and she could feel the reassuring hardness of his arousal press against her hip. Mai sent a silent prayer to Agni in relief. _He wants me, he still wants me._

"Mai…" Her name coming from his lips made her shudder and she kissed the sound away before he could ruin the moment.

Zuko gently freed his arms, only to take hold of her waist, pulling her closer, his fingers digging into the back of her legs, as he arched up against her and into the kiss. And then her world turned upside down and suddenly Zuko was on top of her, his thumb caressing her right nipple through her clothes. Mai suppressed a moan and shifted in his arms, planting hot kisses on his neck as his hand snuck lower and between them, then down, over her stomach and between her legs, pressing down just where she wanted it most. She sucked in her lower lip and bit down on it, swallowing hard, swallowing away the sound, when all she wanted was to scream while pleasure swept over her and carried her away.

When she opened her eyes again, Zuko's perfect, unscarred face was staring down at her. It was strangely unsettling. Mai reached up and pressed her lips to his, kissing away her sudden unease. His hand caught hers and she laced her fingers with his, reaching for the hardness between his legs, enjoying how his eyes glazed over under her touch and how he breathlessly moaned her name as he came.

 

ooo

 

"I missed you." Zuko ran his thumb over her cheek and Mai leaned into the caress.

"Mmh." Mai tightened her grip around his waist, her voice teasing. "Missed me? Were you gone?"

"Hey, that was totally not my fault. Dad wanted to spend some quality time with the family after Uncle's coronation." Zuko's fingers ghosted along her jaw. He pushed her chin up with his thumb, pressing a kiss to her lips. "Chan and Ruon-Jian are having a 'welcome back' party tonight. You coming?" He smiled, his voice tender, "I'll make it up to you."

Mai nodded, hiding a smile in his shirt. Fire Lord Iroh? Really? If that was the price for Zuko being happy, well that wasn't so bad, was it?


	2. Chapter 2

 

ooo

 

'Oh no!' The words stuck in Mai's throat and her stomach clenched in dread. She started to run. 

"Zuko!"

"Zuko! Zuko!" 

The weather-worn wood creaked under her feet as Mai hastened down the dark path winding through the dunes and toward the crowd at the far end of the half-moon shaped beach. A bonfire cast everything in flickering orange light. Mai, movements fueled by adrenaline, tried to find reassurance in the familiar presence of the darts on her wrists. There were drums and the crowd was chanting and stomping and cheering Zuko on, in what, knowing Zuko, could only be a fight. Her fingers touched the sharpened tips of her darts lightly. She might have to use them soon.

Zuko's name echoed on in the dark and Mai sighed in aggravation, wondering who had managed to goad Zuko into a fight now. Not that that was hard at any given day. If the Fire Lord were handing out medals for being a hot-headed idiot …

"Zuko! Zuko!"

The chanting grew louder with every step and Mai had to elbow her way through the cheering people, ready to defend her idiot, wondering what trouble Zuko's honor had gotten him into this time.

"Zuko! Zuko!"

Fire limbo. Mai stopped dead in her track, eyes widening minutely at the spectacle in front of her. Her arms, ready to shoot sharp darts at whoever was attacking Zuko, dropped to her side in exasperation. She took in the scene, the flaming limbo stick, the cheering onlookers, the black sand glittering like so many diamonds in the firelight and the fact that Zuko was blatantly, obviously not wearing a shirt. Mai wetted her suddenly dry lips, eyes following the golden firelight dancing over his muscles as he moved in rhythm with the music.

Someone was playing the tsungi horn in the distance and the rhythmic chanting and stomping of the cheering onlookers filled the air, mingling with the music, transforming it into an eerie song that made her stomach tighten and her palms sweaty, making her afraid that despite all that had happened that day, that this was after all just a dream, that she would wake from it sad and longing and alone in her rooms in the palace Caldera.

The drums picked up their beat as Zuko inched his way forward under the flaming stick and Mai's eyes were once more drawn to him. Mai swallowed, unable to pull her eyes away from how the flames and shadows danced over his sweaty skin and she felt drawn to him in a way that surpassed desire and lust. She worried her lower lip, taking a step closer. Zuko's top-knot nearly touched the sand. He was bent over backwards and sideways, the burning limbo-stick inches above his chest, making it glisten with fire lit sweat. He did have rather nice abs, she thought, mesmerized by the movement of his pecs, so dangerously, deliciously close to the flaming limbo-stick, and it would be a shame to waste that view. Mai bit down on her bottom-lip.

Maybe fire limbo was not so stupid after all. 

With one graceful motion, and the roaring approval of the crowd, Zuko swung his upper body free of the limbo stick, and back-flipped to his feet.

"For HONOR!" Zuko hollered and punched the air with a gust of fire that roared triumphantly high into the night sky, before bowing in all directions with exaggerated flourish. One of the girls broke from the crowd, throwing herself at Zuko, drawing him into an exuberant hug. What by Angi? Mai pursed her lips, and crossed her arms in front of her chest, as Zuko twirled the girl around. She contemplated the merit of one well-placed dart that would put an end to Zuko's misery. The girl was awfully pretty.

Zuko disentangled himself from his fan and his eyes found Mai's in the crowd and, to her annoyance, she blushed as he winked at her. Stupid Zuko. Stupid, stupid fire limbo.

"Mai!" He grinned as he walked over to her, pulling her flush against his chest and into a kiss. Her fingers slid over the still fire warmed skin of his chest up to his cheek, and into his hair, her thumb coming to rest where a scar should be. No. Mai set her jaw, angry at herself for even thinking it. Never should have been.

Zuko tugged a lock of hair behind her ear, looking at her with an intensity that had her knees go weak. He chuckled self-consciously. "You're beautiful when you're annoyed with me."

Mai scowled at that, but Zuko expertly caught her hand as she was about to push him away, twining their fingers. "Come on." He gently pulled her away from the crowd toward where the boulders dropped off into the sea and a smaller, half hidden, more private fire was lit. "Chan and Ruon-Jian are waiting for us." Then he leaned closed, whispering conspiratorially. "They've been saving us the good stuff."

The _good_ stuff? What exactly… And who are - but before she could ask, Zuko whisked her off to the quieter side of the party, where a smaller fire was burning cheerfully in the shelter of a group of boulders.

"That was awesome, man!" A tall guy with an octo-shark tooth dangling from a leather band around his neck got up and clapped Zuko on the shoulder.

"Chan! Dude, you missed one amped up coronation!" Zuko let go of Mai and pulled Chan into a bear-hug. "They had fireworks and, dude, you won't believe how awesome that open bar was!" His arm still around Chan's shoulder, Zuko scanned the beach, obviously looking for someone, then shrugged, and socked Chan in the shoulder. "Best spiky I've smoked in ages. Gotta tell you though, man, pregaming with my sister is just not the same!"

"That'll teach you to go to some stupid coronation instead of hanging with your bros." Chan grinned widely and Mai rolled her eye at him, watching the two of them, feeling oddly happy that this Zuko did have friends. 

Chan clapped Zuko on the back again. "You've been missing out on one hell of a party yourself, dude! It's wicked bad luck that your grandpa died the same week as the Fire Lord."

What now? Fire Lord Azulon was still Zuko grandfather, right? That hadn't changed, had it? Hadn't Zuko said earlier that Iroh was Fire Lord now? Mai looked from Chan to Zuko and then back to Chan, searching his face for clues whether this was a joke or not. 

"You do know…" Mai started but someone pushed past her, interrupting.

"Sorry about that."

A boy about their age crouched down by the boulders, a squat flame on his palm, frantically inspecting the pile of sandals people had toed off at one point or another during the evening.

"Have you seen a pair of pink sandals? With little white shells?" He sighed and closed his hand, extinguishing the flame as he turned to them, a sinking look on his face. "It's, like really important."

"Ty Lee lost her sandals again?" Zuko sounded oddly amused and Mai gave him a sidelong look wondering why Ty Lee losing her shoes was even remotely funny. 

"Yeah. She said we'd …" The guy gave them a self-conscious little shrug before his eyes went wide and he dropped to his knees, kowtowing. "Your Royal Highness, I meant no disrespect." He pressed his forehead against the sand, panic making his voice tremble.

As he should, Mai thought. At least someone remembered their manners. Chan started snickering and Mai looked from him to an amused looking Zuko and back to the guy frantically apologizing for his rudeness, wondering what was so funny.

"Is that the first one tonight?" Chan chuckled and Mai was starting to feel annoyed at being left out of the joke. No matter how lame it most likely was.

"The first of what?" she snapped, folding her arms in front of her. 

Zuko gestured for the boy to get up. "Try over by the palm tree with the swing. I think I saw them there earlier."

"Thank you, sir!" He bowed to Zuko, face flaming, before quickly heading in the direction Zuko had pointed him at. "I'll do that, sir."

"Losers." Chan turned to Mai to answer her question. "You won't believe the number of idiots who mistake him for a prince." He shrugged. "Happens every night."

"Yeah, it takes a special kind of idiot…" Mai started but Zuko interrupted her by pulling her closer to his side. He planted a kiss on the tender spot on her neck and she gasped.

"Be nice Mai," Zuko whispered, "For me. I know he's an idiot, but he's my best friend." Zuko looked at her with those… eyes, and Mai blushed, feeling like her ten year old self again, self-conscious and tongue-tied and helplessly in love. She fought the urge to turn her head away as she had done so many years ago, and then thankfully, finally Zuko pulled her into a kiss.

The waves licked at her feet and Mai took a step back, breaking the kiss. Zuko's hand came to rest at the small of her back and she leaned into him, resting her head on his shoulder. Part of her insisted that she really should not let him manipulate her like that, that she needed to grow some immunity against the butterflies in her belly that he put there by simply looking at her.

The moon shone onto the gentle waves and Mai looked out onto the dark ocean annoyed with herself. Why couldn't she let herself be happy? Wasn't this how it was supposed to be, Zuko happy, at her side, caring about her, wanting her? What, by Agni, was wrong with her?

"Mai?" Zuko's hand slid from her back to her waist, squeezing gently.

"Yes?" Mai shook her head to clear it of the unwanted thoughts.

"Do you want some punch?"

"Not really," Mai murmured, more focused on his fingers pressing into her bare skin than his words.

"Hey, that was only that one time." Zuko grinned apologetically. "They promised me 'no more surprise cactus'."

"I guess." Mai shrugged. 

"I'll test it first." Zuko got up and winked at her, before kissing her on the cheek. "And no pink umbrella, I promise."

Mai sat down on one of the boulders and watched Zuko and Chan pouring punch from their oh-so-secret stash into cups, holding a conversation that seemed to consist of nothing but bro-fists, 'awesome' and 'sweet'. Mai rolled her eyes at them and let her attention drift back to the ocean and the moonlit waves gently rolling onto the beach.

"Good evening." Mai turned, facing a teenager with overlong bangs offering her a cup. He flipped his bangs in what looked way too casual to not be a well practiced motion and leaned casually against the bolder, pointing a finger gun at her. "Mai."

"That's my name." Mai took the cup from him, balancing it on the rock beside her. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." He did that finger gun thing again Mai shuddered when his smile turned into a leer and his eyes lingered on her chest. Suppressing the urge to pull her scarf close, her free hand inched toward her knives, wondering what he was even looking at. It wasn't like she was Ty Lee in the chest department. But before she could make up her mind about what to do to him, Zuko stepped in front of her.

"Cut it out, Ruon-Jian, that's my girlfriend," Zuko growled, pushing him. The other boy stumbled backwards, lost his footing and landed ass first on the sand, glaring up at Zuko.

"Or what?" Ruon-Jian picked himself up from the ground.

"Or," Zuko's hand shot out, meeting Ruon-Jian's mid-air. "AGNI KAI!"

Oh great Agni, Mai scowled, were they seriously going to fight an Agni-Kai right here and now?

She stepped back as they circled each other in the orange glow of the fire, dodging each other's blows and Mai fiddled with the straw in her drink, watching them, wondering if Agni Kais shouldn't contain more actual fire and not just punches and kicks, when, with one swift move Zuko crouched low and kicked out Ruon-Jian's legs from under him. Ruon-Jian went down with a thud and Zuko loomed over him.

"Totally owned you, man!" Zuko crowed, helping him up. "Totally owned you!"

"Drink?" Ruon-Jian brushed the sand off his clothes, fussing with his hair in a way that started to annoy Mai, before slinging an arm around Zuko's shoulders, steering him toward the punch. "Dude you gotta tell me all about that coronation! 

Wait, they're friends? Seriously?! Mai swirled her own drink in her cup, contemplating all that had happened today. _This_ is what a happy Zuko is like? She was happy for him having friends, no really she was. Now that she thought back on it, he'd never had any, not even back before- 

"Mai?" Mai turned away from where Zuko and the other two where refilling their cups. A teenage girl with pigtails gave Mai a sad look. "You haven't seen a pair of white sandals with tiny shells on them?"

"Ty Lee's?" Mai asked, more curious by the minute. The girl nodded vigorously and Mai looked her up and down, were they friends, or acquaintances? Why did that girl knew her name?

"No." Mai kept studying her face, wondering if she should care what the other girl's name was. "There was a boy looking for them earlier."

The girl's mouth pinched and she narrowed her eyes. "That was Huo-Ran, wasn't it?"

"Could be." Mai shrugged, this not knowing names game was starting to get boring.

"That bastard." The girl stomped her foot, sending sparks flying into the night. "Did you see where he went?"

Mai pointed toward the dunes, vaguely in the direction he'd gone off to.

"Why?" Mai asked, but the girl was already running, disappearing in the crowd. Then she shrugged. Whatever.

"Thanks for nothing." Mai muttered, taking a sip of her drink. It was sweet, but not sweet enough to completely hide the bite of the alcohol. Mai swirled the contents in her cup, the quickly melting ice-cubes clinking against the side.

She startled and turned when someone put a hand on her shoulder.

"You don't want to drink that swill." Azula took the cup from her, disdainfully emptying it on the sand, refilling it with something fizzy and peach-smelling.

"Hey look what Zuko taught me earlier!" Azula sat down next to Mai, putting the bottle down on the sand beside her. She held out Mai's cup in both hands, staring intently down at it, concentrating. Ice formed on the rim of the cup and Azula pointed two fingers at the sky, breathing hard, letting the heat flow through her and Mai had to lean away from the intense heat rolling off Azula's hand. She glared at Azula. That better not have singed her hair.

Azula handed the cup back to Mai. "Oops."

"Thanks." Mai took the frozen solid drink, putting it on the rock next to her. At least the over-kill part of Azula's personality seemed to be intact. "Much better." 

"Hi Sis." Zuko trailed his fingers over Mai's bare shoulder, and she leaned up into a kiss. He picked up Mai's frozen drink and whistled under his breath. "I didn't think you could freeze _that_. I'm impressed." 

"Why, thanks." Azula stuck her tongue out at Zuko. "Want mine?" She picked up her bottle and topped her drink off, before offering her cup to Mai. 

"All yours." Mai shook her head, not sure if flammable went well with fizzy peach. 

Azula looked at them slyly. "You wouldn't happen to have seen Ty Lee's shoes, would you?"

"Not you too." Zuko face-palmed. "You seriously fell for Ty Lee's crap?"

"Did not!" Azula protested, her eyes widening in comprehension. She picked up a pebble and threw it at the ocean. It hit the water with a hiss. "Why does she have to do this?" Azula's expression settled into a pout. She poked her index-finger at the basalt, leaving red hot indentations, muttering to herself, "I thought we were good." 

"Did you fight?" Zuko asked, sympathy in his voice. She nodded.

Mai snuggled into Zuko's arm, leaning her head against his shoulder. "What's this all about?" she whispered.

"The shoes?" Zuko sighed. "Just Ty Lee being Ty Lee. Sometimes I think it would be kinder to just drown them."

Mai snickered. She should have figured. Ty Lee'd pulled stunts for attention ever since they were children. People falling all over themselves to get a chance at getting into Ty Lee's pants, was not exactly a surprise, Azula falling for it, though, that was unexpected.

"Ladies." Chan sidled up to them and bowed, then, noticing Azula, let out a low whistle. "First time here on Ember Island?"

Azula took a swig from her bottle. "No, silly, my family comes here every summer."

Chan plucked the umbrella from his drink and leaned over tucking it behind Azula's ear. "You're too pretty to look that sad."

"You think I'm pretty?"

Mai stood slack-jawed as Azula giggled and twirled a lock of her hair around her index-finger, batting her eyes at a very impressed Chan.

"Did you see that?" And Mai was about to say that she'd wished she hadn't, when Zuko pointed back at Ruon-Jian and proudly puffed up his chest. "I totally owned him."

Mai rolled her eyes at him. "Wow."

"Yeah, totally -" Zuko stopped, scrunching up his face at Chan checking out Azula. "Ew, dude, that's my sister!"

Chan ignored his friend and winked at Azula, pointing a finger-gun at her. "Why, hello there, Zuko's sister!"

"Not cool dude, not cool." Zuko got up and socked Chan in the arm. "Bros before -" He glanced at a glaring Azula and amended, "… sisters."

Mai picked up Azula's abandoned cup and downed the contents. She shuddered at the taste, holding it out to Azula for a refill. She had a feeling she was going to need this.

Later, when Chan and Azula had left to 'look at the constellations', and Zuko was defending his honor against Ruon-Jian with a keg-stand in front of a cheering crowd, Mai stood alone in the shadows, unable to shake the feeling that, no matter how happy Zuko seemed, how happy she should be, that something was deeply, horribly wrong.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
